A knock roused him and Gamba entered by the private way. His appearance
was not unexpected to Odo, and served only to reinforce his new-found
energy. He felt that the issue was at hand. As he expected, Gamba had
been sent to put before him more forcibly and unceremoniously the veiled
threat of the ministers. But the hunchback had come also to plead with
his master in his own name, and in the name of the ideas for which they
had once laboured together. He could not believe that the Duke's
reaction was more than momentary. He could not calculate the strength of
the old associations which, now that the tide had set the other way,
were dragging Odo back to the beliefs and traditions of his caste.
The Duke listened in silence; then he said: "Discussion is idle. I have
no answer to give but that which I have already given." He rose from his
seat in token of dismissal.
The moment was painful to both men. Gamba drew nearer and fell at the
Duke's feet.
"Your Highness," he said, "consider what this means. We hold the state
in our hands. If you are against us you are powerless. If you are with
us we can promise you more power than you ever dreamed of possessing."
The Duke looked at him with a musing smile. "It is as though you offered
me gold in a desert island," he said. "Do not waste such poor bribes on
me. I care for no power but the power to wipe out the work of these last
years. Failing that, I want nothing that you or any other man can give.
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